Just briefly on the discussion of how many gears you need to tour, I have recently committed the heresy of converting my vwr from nine to eight speed -- mainly to get a quieter transmission. My mantra: when riding my bike on a quiet country road, all I want to hear is tyre noise. My 7 speed mongoose hybrid has provided this for almost 20 years. Thin chains on busy rear clusters cost more, are less robust and in my experience are likely to be making noise that I resent -- subtle, but it's there. It's unnecessary, and mainly a result of marketing hype arising from a race-oriented industry.

imho!

I'm very happy with the conversion. The nine speed bar end selectors are up for sale, btw. I sure don't need 'em.

Out of interest... When you changed over to an 8 speed, did you have to change anything with the front rings?